Saturday, May 29, 2010

Welcome To The (Sort Of Creepy) World Cup

BLK JKS' "Zol" should be - probably will be - a sure-fire World Cup hit. It's obviously geared for that: they're from Jo-burg, the lyrics are futbol-y, there's a call-response thing going on, the album drops two days before the World Cup starts, they're playing at the opening ceremonies...and for the first 15 seconds or so, it's, yeah, instant theme song.

But all the BLK JKS I've listened too (full disclosure: not much, just a handful of songs) has sounded a little minor key, a little discordant, and I'm hearing that here, too, once the lyrics kick in. Is there not something a little off about this song? Is that guitar line not a little too insistent, almost as if it wants to be in a different song? Are the lyrics not intentionally a bit flat at times? Is it an ANTHEM, yes, in all caps, like the band?

It's so subtle, I start to doubt myself. Is it me? Is my hearing and judgment finally starting to go? So I go and listen to something else, something major key, something sunny and Katrina and the Waves-ish...and then I come back to this...and...It's not me. I don't think.

Is it just that this is how the band plays, anthem be damned? Or is it on purpose?

1 comment:

Pedro Garcia Millan said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.